Take a break without laptops and smartphones

By Yang Seok-hoon

The younger generation is getting better and better at juggling multiple tasks than the older generation. They can simultaneously work and play beyond the limit of physical space. So called, they freely traverse between borderless public and private spaces through various mobile platforms.

The mobile revolution accelerated by iPhone brought huge and positive changes to how we work and live. Unfortunately, it is also true that this magic took away undisturbed rest from people, especially employees.

For almost all of the people in Korea, it’s hard to divide work days from days-off. We carry around our laptops and smartphones, check e-mails, and face “endless” tasks anytime, anywhere. We may be slaving over a hot computer and an expensive smartphone.

Would you rather have a job that pays $80,000 a year that lets you get 7.5 hours of sleep a night, or a job that pays $140,000 a year and allows you time for only 6 hours of sleep a night?

According to the recent study from researchers at Cornell University and the University of Michigan, 75 percent of respondents preferred the $80,000 job that let them get 7.5 hours of sleep. As a result, they chose time (sleep) and quality of life.

While most bosses want staff to be devoted to their organization and work harder, most employees, especially Generation Y, value “work-life balance” more and more.

Do you want to drive further engagement and maximize the performance of your employees?

First of all, let them know clearly that the balance of work and life does not mean the even allocation of time but a strategic choice of value in each different way. Some love the work itself, and others try to spend more time with their family above everything else.

And then, let them take a rest without laptops and smartphones in order to figure out the value on which they put the most emphasis.

Yang Seok-hoon is the human capital practice leader at Deloitte Consulting Korea.